SPRING CABBAGES

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVI, Issue 72, 22 September 1943, Page 6

SPRING CABBAGES

RETAILER'S COMPLAINTS

Half a dozen spring cabbages with' their outer leaves withered and their hearts pulpy were shown to a "Fost'? reporter today by a Wellington greengrocer in support of a triple complaint he had to make regarding the quality of many cabbages bought at auction, In the first place, he said, some of thet Hutt Valley growers were not pack-, ing fairly, in that they were including in their consignments cabbages unfit for human consumption. Secondly, he claimed that the Department of Agriculture inspectors at the marts should make a more rigorous inspection of. the cases to see that they were' packed fairly. It was not possible for' retailers to go through cases to ensure' that the contents were uniform in quality, and the result often was that cabbages and other vegetables of poor quality were revealed when unpacked by retailers. ~

A third ground of complaint was that the regulations brought in by. the Price Tribunal fixing prices did not specify in what condition the cab-* bages should be offered for sale. Witlrs prices fixed at so much a pound re-j tailers suffered considerable loss when their purchases at auction were not up* to standard, as was particularly the case with many of the spring cabbages-